


Waters of Lethe

by gin200168



Category: CSI: NY
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-06
Updated: 2006-04-06
Packaged: 2017-10-03 20:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gin200168/pseuds/gin200168
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One can only resist for so long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waters of Lethe

Trapped.

Blind gripping panic.

A giant invisible weight on his chest, pressing down and constricting his lungs, just like the shattered remains of a building long ago.

Invisible shackles bind him down, the straps spreading and widening, spreading over his whole body until he cannot move anything. Not even his eyelids, forced open to watch the reminders of his failures on a constant loop projected above him. Kyle. Tompkins. Abernathy. Claire. Danny. Stella. Aiden. Each image chips away at a part of his soul, these perceived failures that haunt his waking hours as well as his nights.

He hears the screams of the men in the past, reliving the first few moments of that fateful day. They increase in pitch until it changes completely to Stella's voice, screams of torture coming from somewhere far away-- somewhere where he can't see her, can't find her, can't _help_ her.

He struggles to move, fighting against the constriction and solid resistance like he's covered with layers of earth, too heavy and massive to fight. The more violently he flails, the more the coils wrap tighter and tighter until it feels like even the blood cannot flow to his limbs. He's completely paralyzed, the screams echoing louder and morphing into a haunting chorus that rattles in every part of his brain.

His brain throbs inside his skull, expanding millimeter by millimeter with each gasping breath. The pain compounds, his heart jackhammers in his chest, the screams blur into one big noise….

His eyes snap open, staring up at the ceiling, eyes unfocused, shoving wildly at the tangled, sweat soaked sheets.

This is why he doesn't want to sleep anymore.

 

Fin  
4/06


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